Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois, on March 11, 1969, to Tyrone and Anita (née Hawkins) Howard. He is the great-grandson of stage actress Minnie Gentry. Both of Howard's parents were biracial, with African and Anglo ancestry.[1] Howard was raised in Cleveland, Ohio, and experienced a rocky childhood, enduring disciplinary beatings from his physically abusive father, and even witnessing his father stabbing another man when he was just 2 years old in the Santa Line Slaying. The killing resulted in his father spending 11 months in jail for manslaughter. Howard's parents divorced upon his father's release. He was then raised by his great-grandmother, who died shortly after Howard appeared in Iron Man as Lt. Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark/Iron Man's best friend.

Howard was contracted to play Colonel Rhodes in the 2008 film Iron Man. Howard was signed on before any of the other major actors and ended up being the highest paid actor in the film. He was replaced by actor Don Cheadle in the film's sequels; Entertainment Weekly reported that Howard was offered a 50 to 80 percent pay cut for Iron Man 2, though stated it was unclear whether Howard turned down the role or whether Marvel withdrew their offer.[3][4]

In 2008, he made his Broadway debut, playing Brick in an all-African-American production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Debbie Allen. During rehearsals he allegedly attacked and seriously injured musical composer Tex Allen (brother of the director), who said he suffered multiple injuries as a result of being punched multiple times in the head and face. In October 2008, Allen filed a $5 million lawsuit against Howard.[7]

Since 2015, Howard has starred on the television series Empire, playing Lucious Lyon, a hip-hop mogul who discovers he is dying and must ensure the survival of his music empire. He also appeared in the television series Wayward Pines portraying Sheriff Arnold Pope, a main character in the first season in 2015 and a guest character in the second and final season.[9]

Howard married his first wife, Lori McCommas, in 1994.[12] They had three children together: daughters Aubrey and Heaven, and son Hunter. Through Aubrey, Howard has two grandchildren, a granddaughter born in December 2012 and a grandson (Adrian) born in February 2015.[13] Howard and McCommas divorce filed in 2000 and finalized in 2003, but remarried in 2005.[14] They subsequently filed for divorce a year later and finalized for a second time in 2007.[2][15] McCommas was born Jewish but was raising their children as Jehovah's Witnesses.[16]

Howard married his second wife, commercial production employee Michelle Ghent. Ghent filed for divorce in February 2011.[17] Ghent filed for a restraining order in December 2011, accusing Howard of being physically abusive toward her. Their divorce was finalized in May 2013.[18]

Howard wed his third wife, model and restaurateur Mira Pak, in late 2013.[19] They have two sons, Qirin Love (born May 7, 2015) and Hero (born July 15, 2016).[20]

Though he did not complete his engineering degree, Howard thinks of himself as an engineer and intends to return one day to complete the "three credits"[21] of which he is currently short.[10][22][23][24] Howard's account of his educational history has not been confirmed; Pratt Institute, which he says he attended, closed its engineering degree program in 1993.[25] On February 26, 2013, Howard said on Jimmy Kimmel Live! that he had earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from South Carolina State University that year. He was awarded an honorary "Doctorate of Humane Letters" from SCSU after speaking at its commencement ceremony in 2012. However, he never attended the university[23] and in fact the university is not empowered to confer doctorates in chemical engineering.[26]

In a 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Howard explained that he had formulated his own language of logic, which he called Terryology, and which he was keeping secret until he had patented it. This logic language would be used to prove his contention that "1 x 1 = 2".[28]

"How can it equal one?" he said. "If one times one equals one that means that two is of no value because one times itself has no effect. One times one equals two because the square root of four is two, so what's the square root of two? Should be one, but we're told it's two, and that cannot be."[28]

Howard blames his leaving Pratt over disagreements with a professor regarding this hypothesis. He also stated that he spends many hours a day constructing models of plastic and wire that he patented and claims to confirm his belief.[28]

In 2017, Howard published his proof of his claim that "1 x 1 = 2" on his Twitter account.[29] It was heavily criticized by his followers, due to containing multiple logical errors and faulty reasoning.

In February 2009, it was reported on The Smoking Gun that Howard was arrested in 2001 for a variety of charges related to a violent attack on his estranged first wife, including simple assault, terrorist threats, harassment and stalking. According to police reports, he arrived at her house after an argument on the phone, forced entry into her home by breaking in doors, and chased her into the backyard where he punched her twice in the face with a closed fist. The violent attack ended when Howard's brother stepped in. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace.[30]

According to The Smoking Gun, Howard was also arrested for assaulting a Continental Airlines flight attendant after refusing her request to return to his seat because the seat belt sign was on.[31]

On December 5, 2011, a judge granted Howard's then-wife Michelle Ghent a restraining order based on her claims that Howard had caused her physical injuries that required medical attention, once broke her computer in half, repeatedly threatened her, and stalked her by telephone and on the Internet.[32]

In August 2013, Ghent obtained a second restraining order against him after showing up in court with a black eye she says he gave her.[33] Howard initially denied hitting her but, later, admitted in court to a "mutual" physical altercation, which he claimed included being pepper sprayed by Ghent.[34]

In a September 2015 interview with Rolling Stone, Howard admitted to hitting his first wife in 2001 saying, "she was talking to me real strong, and I lost my mind and slapped her in front of the kids."[35]